Icon-Jacking

Repurposing cultural icons is an effective strategy for hastening the conversion of whole nations at a time to “new” paradigms (with the definition of new here covering any significant socio-cultural change from where the nation previously was).The process can be described, metaphorically, like this:Rather than building your own tank, you simply capture an enemy tank and use it against them.Sometimes, you end up breaking the cultural icon (Star Wars may potentially end up being an example of this), but even if you do, it is better to let cultural icons die that continue to deter the emergence of the “new” paradigms.This tactic is hardly new. Stalin repurposed Lenin. The Bible has been repurposed innumerable times. It’s so common that it should be called icon-jacking.

Paul Gordon is the publisher and editor of iState.TV. He has published and edited newspapers, poetry magazines and online weekly magazines.
He is the director of Social Cognito, an SEO/Web Marketing Company. You can reach Paul at pg@istate.tv